Virgin Atlantic returns to Cancun

• Virgin Atlantic will return to Mexico after a six-year hiatus.

• Cancún will be back on the airline’s regular schedule during winter 2025/26.

• From/to London Gatwick with Boeing 747-400(ER), Virgin’s last operations in 2019.

The airline has announced it will resume flights to a major Latin American market in the Caribbean that it stopped flying in late 2019. Virgin Atlantic will restart services to Cancún, and for the first time it will operate from London Heathrow, as of October 19th, 2025, using Airbus A350-1000 jets.

In accordance with its press release, Virgin will serve three times weekly by A350s, which have 397 seats in three classes (16 Upper Class, 56 Premium and 325 Economy), offering 1,191 seats per week on each leg. British Airways and TUI Airways will be its competitors on the London-Cancún route, in addition to TUI providing operations from other British cities to the Mexican airport.

Schedule between London and Cancún · Virgin Atlantic

Wednesday, Friday and Sunday

• VS 93  London LHR 10:10 · 16:15 CUN Cancún
• VS 94  Cancún CUN 18:45 · 09:05+1 LHR London

The airline will open reservations on this route effective December 4th.

Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Offer, Virgin Atlantic, said, “We’re delighted to be returning to Cancun, offering customers a new destination for some winter sun. Cancun has an amazing nightlife and dining scene, dreamy sandy beaches, plus it’s the perfect gateway to Mayan ruins and adventure travel in the region. Our new route also offers increased connectivity to the region with our codeshare partner LATAM and SkyTeam partner Aeromexico. We can’t wait for more of our customers to enjoy Virgin Atlantic’s trademark fiesta and flair, on their way to Mexico.”

Cancún airport

As announced in their press release, Virgin Atlantic will be the only airline to perform services between London Heathrow and Cancún, which will also offer connections to other major Latin American destinations to/from CUN, such as Buenos Aires, Lima, Mexico City and Santiago de Chile.

In the Latin American region, Aerolíneas Argentinas and Aeromexico are part of SkyTeam, both with routes from Cancún to different cities on the continent, as well as within Mexico in the case of Aeromexico. Regarding Aerolíneas Argentinas, it is the only airline operating to Buenos Aires (Argentina).

Virgin has a codeshare agreement with LATAM Airlines, one of Latin America’s leading carriers. The company offers flights to Cancún from Lima and Santiago de Chile, plus weekly service to Miami with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner planes.

“In this New Era of the Mexican Caribbean, expanding international connectivity has been a top priority as travellers continue to showcase strong interest in exploring our twelve iconic destinations and rich Mayan culture. The addition of this Virgin Atlantic flight from London Heathrow to Cancun will further strengthen Cancun International Airport’s position as one of the most in-demand airports in the world, and we look forward to welcoming new and returning visitors from the United Kingdom to our paradise”, commented Andrés Martínez, Director of the Tourism Promotion Council of Quintana Roo.

Cancún routes

Due to the end of summer 2024, Cancún has fewer flights from/to Europe, although it is one of the Latin American cities with the highest number of connections.

According to our database, Amsterdam, Birmingham, Brussels, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Lisbon, London Gatwick, Madrid, Manchester, Paris CDG, Paris ORY, Rome and Zurich are the current destinations offered to the European continent, being Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Türkiye and United Kingdom the markets.

Concerning airlines, between Europe and Cancún operate Air Caraïbes, Air Europa, Air France, British Airways, Condor, Discover Airlines, Edelweiss Air, Iberojet, KLM, Neos, TAP Air Portugal, TUI Airlines Belgium, TUI Airlines Netherlands, TUI Airways, Turkish Airlines and World2Fly.

As for Virgin Atlantic’s current schedule, the United States is its main market, with 14 routes from the United Kingdom. Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, India, Jamaica, Maldives, Nigeria, South Africa, Turks and Caicos Islands and United Arab Emirates are part of the airline’s regular network. It also has cargo services to Belgium.

Virgin’s fleet consists of 44 aircraft, including Airbus A330-300, Airbus A330-900neo, Airbus A350-1000 and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The company added a new A330neo in October, with registration G-VEYR, which entered service on October 31st, as announced in our Europe report.

So far this year, Virgin Atlantic incorporated 5 aircraft to its fleet. 2 were Airbus A350-1000 and the remaining 3 were Airbus A330-900neo, all brand new from the factory.

Virgin’s current routes

Antigua and Barbuda

• Antigua (ANU): 3 weekly · Airbus A330-300

Bahamas

• Nassau (NAS): 3 weekly · Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner

Barbados

• Bridgetown (BGI): 14 weekly · A333/A339/A35K

Belgium

• Brussels (BRU): 7 weekly · A333/A35K (cargo)

Canada

• Toronto (YYZ): 7 weekly · A333/A339 · eff March 30th, 2025

Ghana

• Accra (ACC): postponed to winter 2025/26

India

• Bengaluru (BLR): 7 weekly · Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
• Delhi (DEL): 14 weekly · Airbus A350-1000
• Mumbai (BOM): 14 weekly · A35K/789

Jamaica

• Montego Bay (MBJ): 2 weekly · Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner

Maldives

• Male (MLE): 7 weekly · Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner

Nigeria

• Lagos (LOS): 7 weekly · Airbus A350-1000

Saudi Arabia

• Riyadh (RUH): 7 weekly · Airbus A330-900neo · eff March 30th, 2025

South Africa

• Cape Town (CPT): 7 weekly · Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
• Johannesburg (JNB): 7 weekly · Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner

United Arab Emirates

• Dubai (DXB): 7 weekly · A333/A339/789

United States

• Atlanta (ATL): 7 weekly · Airbus A350-1000
• Boston (BOS): 7 weekly · A333/A339
• Las Vegas (LAS): 7 weekly · Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
• Los Angeles (LAX): 14 weekly · A35K/789
• Miami (MIA): 14 weekly · Airbus A330-900neo
• New York (JFK): 35 weekly · A339/A35K/789
• Orlando (MCO): 10 weekly · A333/A35K
• San Francisco (SFO): 7 weekly · Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
• Seattle (SEA): 7 weekly · Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
• Tampa (TPA): 7 weekly · A333/A339
• Washington DC (IAD): 10 weekly · A333/A339

Other routes

• Manchester (MAN) – Atlanta (ATL): 5 weekly · A333/A339
• Manchester (MAN) – Bridgetown (BGI): 4 weekly · Airbus A330-300
• Manchester (MAN) – New York (JFK): 5 weekly · Airbus A330-300
• Manchester (MAN) – Orlando (MCO): 7 weekly · A333/A339

Virgin Atlantic fleet

Virgin has cargo flights within Europe

The airline began cargo operations between the UK and Belgium on Airbus A330-300s and Airbus A350-1000s configured for passenger flights.

On October 27th, the first scheduled service departed the British capital for Brussels, covered by Airbus A330-343 registered G-VKSS. Based on our database, the aircraft took off at 07:37 local time, returning at 12:20 local time to LHR.

Virgin Atlantic plans to operate this route on a daily basis until March 29th, 2025, offering up to 50 tons of capacity per service. The flights, according to the airline, are scheduled to carry time-critical goods, such as pharmaceuticals and perishables, currently transported by truck.

Cover photo: Martin Nimmervoll – JetPhotos (London Heathrow Int’l – EGLL – United Kingdom)

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